I've Come to Realize

I did it! Thirty days of blogging! So, to end this long running streak, I wanted to have a fun post. 

I saw this over at Gamgee's blog and thought it would be fun to do.

I’ve come to realize that my chest-size. . . needs a lift.

I’ve come to realize that my job. . . is just that, a job and NOT my career.

I’ve come to realize that when I’m driving. . . I don't have a lot of patience.

I’ve come to realize that I need. . . .to learn to trust people.

I’ve come that realize that I have lost. . . .my drive in life.

I’ve come to realize that I hate it when. . . people are quick to judge.

I’ve come to realize that if I’m drunk. . . I would have a lot of explaining to do since it's against my religion.

I’ve come to realize that money... doesn't solve all your problems, but I still want it and need it.

I’ve come to realize that certain people. . . .won't change no matter what.

I’ve come to realize that I’ll always. . . have trust issues with others (not my hubby of course).

I’ve come to realize that my sibling(s). . . would be so much happier if they could just learn to give a little versus taking so much.

I’ve come to realize that my mom… will always criticize me no matter what I do or say.

I’ve come to realize that my cell phone. . . is always within reach.

I’ve come to realize that when I wake up in the morning. . . and start my day off  with a prayer, it starts out much better.

I’ve come to realize that last night before I went to sleep. . . .I forgot to say my prayers.

I’ve come to realize that my dad. . . .did the best he could. 

I’ve come to realize that today. . . .is like any other dreaded Monday.

I’ve come to realize that tonight. . . .I need to go to bed early, but probably won't.

I’ve come to realize that tomorrow. . . is another day and another dollar. 

I’ve come to realize that I really want to. . . switch careers, but can't afford to (and I don't know what I want to do).

I’ve come to realize that life. . . .is precious and too short.

I’ve come to realize that my friends. . . are few, but true.

I’ve come to realize that this year. . .is coming to an end and I have nothing to show for it. 

I’ve come to realize that my exes. . . taught me that I deserved better.

I’ve come to realize that maybe I should. . . be more active.

I’ve come to realize that I love. . . .my hubby more and more every day.

I’ve come to realize that I don’t understand. . . .God's plan for me, but that I have faith in it.

I’ve come to realize my past. . . makes me who I am today.

I’ve come to realize that parties. . . are not as fun as they used to be when you're the only couple without kids.

I’ve come to realize that I’m totally terrified. . . of being childless.

I’ve come to realize that my life. . . is blessed beyond belief.

Reason for the Season

The tree is up. 

26 Shopping Days before Christmas.

Yay!  I love Christmas.

I love listening to Christmas music.  I love cooking and baking.  I love the smells of this holiday .  I love taking Abbey to see Santa!

But most importantly, I love celebrating the birth of the Savior.  He is the reason for this season!

Home Sweet Home

What a blessing it is to be gathered around family.  Here we are just relaxing at my in laws, the day after Thanksgiving.  Steve and I are both on our laptops checking email/face.book and blogs.

We had a great visit with his parents, grandparents and younger brother's family in upstate NY.

While it's great to spend time with family, it's nicer to be home.

Time to put out all the Christmas decorations!

You know your husband loves you when...

He gets up at 4 AM to go shopping with you on bl.ack Friday. 

We rolled outta bed and hit the stores.

We got some great deals on things we actually needed:

Vacuum

Microwave

Deep Fryer

Pots & Pans

Candles

Christmas presents for nieces and nephews

I love good deals!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

"We should thank God for our adversities and pray for guidance in meething them.  It is all part of the plan."

I hope and pray that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.  There are so many things to be thankful for all around us.  May you all be blessed this season.  Happy Thanksgiving.

An Attitude of Grattitude - My Husband

I am so thankful for my dear husband. 

He truly is a blessing in my life. 

He makes me a better person.

He makes me feel love like I've never felt before. 

I am truly grateful for such a wonderful eternal companion!

An Attitude of Grattitude - White Chocolate Molten Cake

I am thankful for Chi.lis White Chocolate Molten Cake.  Mmmm, mmm, Delish! 

(My butt and thighs are not as thankful though).

Last night we went to Chi.lis for dinner.  They have a special for 3 courses, for 2 people, for $20.  Can't beat that!  This dessert is one of my all time favorites because I love white chocolate. (For those who don't like white chocolate, they have a regular chocolate molten cake). 

Warm white chocolate cake with a white chocolate filling and berry sauce.  Topped with vanilla icecream under a crunchy white chocolate shell. 

It was oh.so.good!

********************

This morning when I got up, I made the mistake of getting on the scale.  Oh my word!  I thought for sure it was wrong so I got my big butt off and got back on.....wouldn't you know it?  My butt was still as big as it was two seconds ago.

Dare I blame it on the IF drugs? The 'baby weight' I put on during my whopping six weeks of pregnancy? Or maybe it was all the emotional eating I've been doing since the miscarriage? Yeah, I blame all three!

Okay, okay, I know....no one's to blame but me! 

(Darn you, white chocolate molten cake!)

An Attitude of Grattitude - Eternal Families

Everyone can appreciate a good mechanic.  But even better than that, an HONEST mechanic.  I am thankful for my mechanic, A.  He's just not any mechanic.  He's one of the most honest, loving, gentle person you'll ever meet.  We have known A and his wife B (their real initials) for a very long time.  They are very close friends of ours.  Unfortunately, my dear friend B passed away earlier this year in June, suddenly from Stomach cancer (she only lived four weeks after diagnosis). We were all devastated. 

A and B were examples of true love.  You could tell that they were very much in love all the time.  They are such examples to all of us, but more importantly, to their children.  A is now left to be a single father to two young children.  When we visit with them (besides the occassionally car maintenance), I can still see the pain in his face.  He repeatedly tells us that he misses his wife a lot.  We all miss her, but I know that she is smiling down on her family.  And they all know that they will see her again when they are all united as an eternal family. 

I share this story with you because today, I am grateful for true, honest, and loving friends. But more importantly, I am grateful that families can be together forever. 

This is one of the last vacations A&B took as a family. 

An Attitude of Grattitude

In the spirit of Thanksgiving this week, I wanted to post about things that I am grateful for.  A whole week of grattitude!  Where do I even begin??  I have been so richly blessed in my life.

I AM THANKFUL FOR CHILDREN WHO HAVE A DESIRE TO WANT TO LEARN ABOUT JESUS. 

Today in church we had the Primary  Program.  This is a program that is put on once a year by the children at church.  It was absolutely wonderful!  The children all have such special spirits.  I cried my eyes out when one of the little girls sang a solo. 

Abbey even had a small part with her class.  (Yes, Abbey goes to church with us and she even likes to say her prayers).  She is in the six year old class and their part today was to recite

John 14:6:

I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father, but by me. 

A gentle reminder that it is through Christ that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. 

ICLW

Welcome old friends and new friends from the blogosphere!  Thanks for stopping by and visiting my neck of the woods for ICLW. 

We are currently trying to start a family (see my sidebar to catch up on where we are on our journey).  After our third miscarriage last month, we are pretty much waiting to start the next IVF cycle in January.  Everything is a waiting game when it comes to IF.

But through out this whole journey, we have been richly blessed.  The Lord knows our hearts and our desires.  We have put our faith in Him because we believe that He can work miracles. 

I continue to pray for all those women out there who are suffering.  You are not alone on this journey. Keep hope alive!

Friday Five - Thankful

Thankful Friday Five.  Today's edition is Scattergories style.  Join the fun over at Not a Fertile Myrtle .  To generate your letter, go to this site.  Come along and play.  My letter is "E". 

1) Who are you most thankful for?
Everyone in my life.  I am really thankful for Eternal Families. 

2) What is one of your favorite thanksgiving traditions?
Eating!  Isn't that what it's all about? 

3) What is one food you must have on thanksgiving day?
Everything.  But there have been a few years where we've also had eggrolls along with the turkey. 

4) What's one thing you would like to purchase on black friday?
Edward Cullen (in the spirit of Twi.light).  Oh, wait, he's not for sale??

5) what are you most looking forward to this thankgiving?
Engaging in good conversation with family and friends. 

What are your friday five answers? You can leave them in the comments or post it on your own blog. But me know if you do so we can read your answers.

Bloggers Block

You know how writers have Writers Block?....well, I'm having Bloggers Block.  It's hard to write a post everyday for 30 days!  There have been days where I don't feel like blogging for this exact reason.  As I sit here tonight trying to find something to blog about, my mind is just too exhausted to think.  I have several ideas brewing in my noggin, but I just haven't had time to really sit down and write.  So instead, I have to come up with simple, quick things to write about so I don't fry my brain. 

This is what I did tonight:

I went to visit a friend who is having a hard time right now.  I admire her for her strenghth and her faith.  She is a great example of a strong woman.

I went to the dollar store to buy pregnancy tests (I wish they would sell them in bulk at Cost.co!)

I picked up Sushi for dinner (for myself because Steve's not a big fan of it).

I watched Road Rules/Real World Challenge.

Read some lovely blogs and now will retire to bed.  Super excited for New.Moon tomorrow!!!

(Sass, if you are reading this, I've been able to read your blog through Goo.gle reader, but EVERY time I try to actually open up your blog to leave a comment, it freezes up and I have to shut it down.  No idea why that happens!  Just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you)

Show and Tell - Nieces

I had two of my nieces over with us last Saturday, Abbey and Mya.  I scheduled a photo shoot with my friend to get pictures of the girls.  Sorry, I don't have those pictures to share with you at this time (maybe I will have them for next week's show and tell), but Steve was able to snap a picture of us right before we left. 

Abbey (6), Me (thirty something), Mya (18 months)

I was having a really hard week last week, and these two bundles of joy really lifted my spirits.

I am grateful for these blessings in my life.

I love all my nieces and nephews!

I love to spoil them with love.

My sister got me this magnet, and it rings true....

Hop on over to Mel's to see what everyone else is showing and telling. 

It's Almost That Time of Year

Yes, I'm referring to Christmas, but more specifically, Family Christmas cards and letters (you know, the year end recap kind of letter).  I love receiving Christmas cards and letters from family and friends.  Sometimes this is the only time that we even hear from people so it's nice to read about what's going on in their lives (and their children's lives).  We get Christmas letters that are 3 - 4 pages long from friends who have five, six, seven kids!  And I can honestly say that I really do enjoy reading all the Christmas letters and seeing how the kids have grown.

The part that makes me sad is.....

when reality sets in and I realize that MY family hasn't grown. 

For the past nine years (maybe with the exception of one or two years), I've sent out Christmas cards/letters to fill distant family/friends in on our lives. Well, I'm running out of things to write about in our Christmas letters. Our lives are just not that exciting.  We don't have stories to tell about things our children have done, exotic vacations that we've been on or any other earth shattering news.

I don't think anyone would want to get a Christmas letter describing shots in the belly, bruises, ultrasounds, vagaegae cams, egg re.trievals, egg trans.fers, frozen em.bryo's, leaky pro.gestrone meds, mood swings, and miscarriages.  Even Santa wouldn't want to receive a letter like that!

So, maybe this year I'll just send out plain old Christmas cards that say...'Same old stuff, Different Day.'  Because that pretty much describes our life right now.  Or maybe, 'Another Day, Another Dollar, Another Miscarriage'.....that would work for us too. 

Then I started thinking....Maybe there should be a special line of IF Holiday Cards.  What would your IF Holiday card say? (I'm too tired to come up with anything creative right now.  You guys are much more creative than I am so I can't wait to hear what you come up with). 

Four More Days!

Until New.Moon!!!!

We are going to try and leave a little early on Friday to catch a matinee.

Who else is going to see this?  Com one, I can't be the only thirty something year old totally in love with Edward!

I love Sundays

I love Sundays! It's the sabbath day. A day to worship. A day of rest. A day to reflect. A day to spend with family.

My Sunday started with Abbey coming into our room and snuggling up next to me. Then she went downstairs and played on the computer. Steve got up and went downstairs and made us all breakfast, pancakes and crispy bacon. Yummy.

After three hours of church (yes, we go to church for three hours), Abbey and I got home and made a dessert together before dinner. Chocolate eclair layer dessert.  Yummy.

Abbey loves to lick the spoon and bowl.

Here's our yummy dessert. 

The only downside to Sunday is knowing the next day is Monday!

**Update:  Here is the recipe for the Chocolate Eclair Recipe.  I got it from Reluctant Entertainer.  I love her blog and have her blog button on my left side scroll bar.  She just published a book too! 

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

2 packages graham crackers

2 – 3 oz. packages instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 – 8 oz. tub of whipped topping
1 – 16 oz. can of chocolate frosting

Mix pudding, milk and whipped topping. Cover the bottom of a 9×13 pan with graham crackers. Pour half of the pudding mixture on top. Layer grahams, then pudding twice. Cover with graham crackers, then pour softened frosting on top. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

ENJOY!

Friday Five

RESILIENT

Definition: (adjective) tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

1. Who in your life seems especially resilient?

I would say all the women out there who are going through infertility.  I love reading about your stories and it inspires me to keep fighting. 

2.  What characteristics would a person need to develop in order to become resilient?

Someone who has a lot of faith.  Someone strong. Someone who continues to believe, even when it feels like the whole world is against you. 

3.  In what areas of your life do you think you’ve been resilient?

I would have to agree with Suzy at Not a Fertile Myrtle and say Infertility.  It's almost a pre-requisite to be resilient on this IF journey.  There will be ups and there will be downs, but at the end of the day, I have to keep believing in myself and Heavenly Father. 

4.  It is often said among educators that a strong indicator of resiliency in children is the presence of a “charismatic adult.” In your own childhood, who was the charismatic adult who inspired you to grow positively?

I did not have a lot of positive influence in my life growing up.  But I did have great youth leaders at church who were such a blessing in my life.  They played such a huge, positive role in my life. 

5.  Can one be tough and resilient at the same time, or are they opposite traits?

Absolutely!  You almost always need to be tough to be resilient.  Life comes at you fast, you need to be able to pick yourself up and keep moving. 

Hop on over to Not a Fertile Myrtle to join the Friday Five!

My RE was on the news!

My RE was featured on the local news!  He is such a nice and caring doctor.  We love him!

Below is the story of a local couple who went through Shady Grove Fertility.  An amazing story (watch the video!) 

The Wall's Journey

As they celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, Mandy and Rob of Loudoun County, Virginia, await the birth of their first child. A far cry from how they spent their first anniversary - in a hospital room after a spontaneous dive into deceptively shallow water left Rob paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Due to the accident, Rob lost not only the use of his arms and legs, but also his ability to conceive a child naturally. Through the help of Shady Grove Fertility and the amazing Leesburg team, the couple successfully conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF) earlier this year, and their child is due around Christmas time.

Show and Tell - Curtains

We've been in our house for over four years and just painted the foyer and kitchen last year. I've been wanting to get window treatments since forever, but they cost soooo much for custom treatments.  I was quoted $600 - $800 JUST for the kitchen window and sliding glass door!!  (Who in the world spends that kind of money on curtains for two windows??!!)  I finally broke down and just bought some simple ones, just to have something covering the windows in my kitchen and breakfast area.

This is my kitchen window BEFORE

This is the AFTER. Simple. Purrty.

And here is the sliding glass door with two panels (that did NOT cost me an arm and a leg!). I didn't take a before picture, but you all know what a plain sliding glass door looks like. Now I just have to find something to go above it.

Next on my list is the family room and dining room. Hopefully it won't take me another four years to get those done! 

Hop on over to Mel's to see what everyone is showing and telling about. 

 

Veteran's Day

Today is a day to Remember and to be Grateful.

Thank you to all the service men and women who have fought and are currently fighting for our freedoms!

May God Bless you and your families!

Need a good laugh??

I have to introduce you to one of my favorite blogs for a good laugh.  Trust me, when you go there, you are bound to find something that will make you ROFL!  Check out Fail Blog.  It's one of the sites I go to daily.  Some of the content is PG-13-ish, but there is a link at the top that will only show you G-Rated pics and videos.  I'm telling you, it's some funny stuff! You just can't make this stuff up!  I would love to know what you think of it. 

Here are some of my favorites:  

see more Epic Fails


see more Epic Fails

Unexpected Congrats

Last week as I was leaving the office, I ran into someone who's last day it was at the company and we were saying our goodbye's, etc. when she said 'Congratulations, I heard about your news.'  To which I responded, 'ugh, what news?'  That's when she rubbed her belly and said 'Mr. XX (my boss, aka the Director of our group) told me you were expecting.'  I told her that I had miscarried and that it was no big deal.  Of course, she said she was sorry to hear, blah, blah, blah. 

Then I started thinking, why would my boss even tell her?  This person works in HR so I couldn't figure out what kind of conversation he had with her to even bring up this topic? 

I have two managers, one who is the Director and his Deputy Director.  Both of them are very much aware of my situation and are very understanding when it comes to taking time off for my appointments.  I thought I could trust them, but I guess I need to be more careful next time.  I'm really not upset at them or anything, mostly just curious as to why he would even mention it to HR. 

The whole thing just took me by surprised because when we were pregnant, we only told a hand full of people and then had to go back and tell them about the miscarriage.  So when someone unexpectedly  says 'Congratulations' it kind of sets you back.  (Too bad it's not like 'Congratulations on winning the lottery!' Because that would be such an awesome congrats. Wishful thinking, I know.)

Hail to the Dead.skins!

The Redskins played the Falcons today and LOSS. What else is new? Now we're 2 and 6!!

This is the new (unofficial) logo that has been circulating around the D.C. area.  We just can't seem to win!

Friday Five (a day late)

Hop on over to Suzy's at Not a Fertile Myrtle and join in on the fun. 

Here are today's questions.

1) Which one is more irritating- being too hot or being too cold?

I would much rather be cold rather than hot. I feel better with more clothes on!

2) Were you born in the winter or the summer?

I was born in Vietnam so it was probably more summer like than winter-like.

3) What are your favourite foods to eat when you need to warm up and cool down?

To warm up, I like chili or beef stew and caramel apple cider from Starbucks.  Nothing says cool down like icecream!!!

4) Which one are you more likely to suffer from- hayfever or flu- and does it run in your family?

Flu!  And I've been trying to get a flu shot, but my doctor has been out of the vaccine for over a month! 

5) You are granted a day of perfect weather whenever you like. What day do you place it on and why?

I would love for it to be 75 degrees on a Saturday.  So much more to do when the weather is nice on the weekend!